Hell and Back

FICTION

A round trip

Sweat poured down the obese security guard’s chin as he dragged Nate to the solitary, metal chair in the center of the chamber. The young, sullen teen was forcibly seated, metal restraints immediately encircling his wrists and ankles. From the doorway, Victoria smiled at Nate.

“Don’t worry Nate, I’ll be right here,” she said. The juvenile offender rebelliously looked away from her, but that was hardly out of the ordinary.

Two technicians began placing electrodes over Nate’s bare torso. He winced as one of them inserted an IV, the only chink in his stubbornly stoic armor. He continued to glare randomly at the reflective glass behind which Sgt. Victoria and the rest of the Hell Chamber personnel were standing observing him.

"You know, it’s actually my first time visiting the chamber," Victoria said to Sam, the lead technician. "So, how does all this actually work?"

"Pretty simple really. Been doing this to offenders for over a year now," Sam replied, her eyes focused on the dials and displays in front of her. She was a young petite woman, dressed in a white lab coat, with her blonde hair tied in a casual ponytail. "Started off as a tourist attraction — at least they thought it could be. But people quickly got turned off from that. Then we realized that a trip to Hell is a great way to scare straight juvenile criminals — like young Nate here."

"Oh, he’s not that bad,” Victoria shrugged. “Not the best family situation. Got into drugs and other things, unfortunately. Just needs people to work with him. Myself and a few of the other officers at the station have made a bit of progress with him.” She stared out at Nate, sitting sullenly in the Hell Chamber as the technicians continued to set up. “So why haven’t they found a way to visit Heaven yet?"

"Don’t know. We’re still learning the technology, to be honest — I mean it’s been in use for a little over a year, so we have a while to go. But, it seems you can’t use it to get there." Sam smiled. "Or anywhere else in fact. It seems like Hell is just easier to find."

All the technicians left the chamber and stood idly in the control room, staring out the one-way glass at Nate, who continued to glare murderously back at them…

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